GAP, Minor Body Damage Insurance, extra warranty and Towbar

keywest · February 19, 2018

I bit the bullet today so it's bye bye 2007 RX400h SR and hello 2015 NX300h Luxury.

Now a few questions:

1. I was offered GAP insurance at £399 for three years cover. I know the principle but it would be interesting forum views on whether it is worthwhile and good value.

2. Also offered Minor Body Damage insurance at £399 for three years coverage. Views on this please although it did sound like it would offer better value.

3. Lexus are offering two years extra warranty (I am getting one year as part of deal) for £795. Views on this please especially value for money

4. Finally towbars. Has anyone got a towbar from anyone other than Lexus? I have tried two fitters and they say there is no towbar for the NX. Offered to have one fitted but only offer detachable swannecks at nearly £900. I need a flangeball or it's a new tow hitch at £350. It might be easier to get rid of the caravan and stay in cottages when other annual caravan costs are taken into account!

Thanks for any comments

Eggie · February 19, 2018

I can answer some of your queries but not all and the responses are only my opinion:

1. GAP: Its far cheaper if you arrange it yourself. You can find companies and reviews on line. Should save you at least £100+. Depends on if you consider worth it. I do because if in the next 4yrs my NX300H gets written off I get the difference from what my insurance pay me and the cost for a replacement new vehicle. So if £40K and in 2yrs time its written off and my insurance company pay me £20k the GAP would make up the difference to the original purchase price. (This just an easy example).

3. If you want worry free motoring the warranty extension is worth it. You get a manufacturers warranty incuding Lexus breakdown cover. Although Lexus are renowned for being reliable.

Hope this helps

Martin J · February 19, 2018

Congrats on joining the NX club Clive. Suspect opinions differ on the questions you've asked, and there are some comments in other forums on the site. I declined GAP insurance and minor body damage insurance (there were too many exclusions for it to represent vfm in my view). As my NX is also 2015, just pondering the 2 year extended warranty offer. As it includes extended member and partner breakdown cover, I'm inclined to go with it. Hope you enjoy the NX!

rich1068 · February 19, 2018

17 minutes ago, keywest said:

1. I was offered GAP insurance at £399 for three years cover. I know the principle but it would be interesting forum views on whether it is worthwhile and good value.

2 minutes ago, Eggie said:

1. GAP: Its far cheaper if you arrange it yourself. You can find companies and reviews on line. Should save you at least £100+. Depends on if you consider worth it. I do because if in the next 4yrs my NX300H gets written off I get the difference from what my insurance pay me and the cost for a replacement new vehicle. So if £40K and in 2yrs time its written off and my insurance company pay me £20k the GAP would make up the difference to the original purchase price. (This just an easy example)

Agree with Eggie. Go for the GAP but look elsewhere. Try ALA for a start. I've used them a couple of times. And..... a little story for you...

A few years ago we had a van written off at work. No fault of ours but a total loss. It was on contract hire with Peugeot and obviously they were expecting another eg year's worth of rentals plus the van at the end of it. The insurance pay out (even after much arm twisting) was still well short of what Peugeot wanted. The entire settlement went to Peugeot plus we had to carry on making payments on a van that no longer existed just to make up the shortfall. Peugeot were extremely helpful and sympathetic throughout but I do remember speaking to one of their fleet staff and asking them if they had GAP insurance on their vehicle. She said "Yes I have. Because I spend all day talking to people like you that haven't"

DAN@ADRIAN FLUX · February 19, 2018

Hi,

Just to let you know that we offer a product called Total Loss Protection. Whilst it's not exactly the same as your traditional GAP insurance we feel for some customers it can make a cost effective alternative.

Please feel free to take a look if you wish.

https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/extras/total-loss/

Regards,

Dan

rayaans · February 20, 2018

GAP insurance is cheaper elsewhere. Worth reading the terms and conditions though because they differ. TBH Ive never bought it.

Minor damage insurance is a tough one. Depends on if you think you're going to get your car dinged. It doesn't cover certain dings of certain sizes or depths and there is usually an excess to pay. Some policies have a maximum number of dings and callouts that they will do.

Extended warranty isn't worth it on a 2015 NX - you'll get 1 year dealership warranty anyway

DanD · February 20, 2018

I too was offered GAP, minor damage and also tyres/wheels insurance.

I did go for the GAP insurance.

As for the other two, I went on the principle that whether or not I curb the wheels is under my control, whereas there is little I can do against stone chips and car park dings. Therefore did not go for the first, but paid for the second.

malcolmw · February 20, 2018

The usefulness of GAP insurance depends on the type of vehicle which you have.

If you have a common car then the standard "market value" payout from your normal insurer should get you into a similar age/spec vehicle with usually only a small outlay. The problem comes when you have a rare care for which you will not easily be able to source a used replacement.

I am going to get GAP insurance on my new LC500 for this reason. I have got a quote from Warranty Direct for less than £250 for 3 years cover which seems reasonable to me. I am waiting for the Lexus quote now.

A similar thing is true to some extent for wheel/tyre cover. You just will not be able to get a secondhand LC500 wheel if you seriously damage one.

as13 · February 20, 2018

22 hours ago, keywest said:

I bit the bullet today so it's bye bye 2007 RX400h SR and hello 2015 NX300h Luxury.

Now a few questions:

1. I was offered GAP insurance at £399 for three years cover. I know the principle but it would be interesting forum views on whether it is worthwhile and good value.

2. Also offered Minor Body Damage insurance at £399 for three years coverage. Views on this please although it did sound like it would offer better value.

3. Lexus are offering two years extra warranty (I am getting one year as part of deal) for £795. Views on this please especially value for money

4. Finally towbars. Has anyone got a towbar from anyone other than Lexus? I have tried two fitters and they say there is no towbar for the NX. Offered to have one fitted but only offer detachable swannecks at nearly £900. I need a flangeball or it's a new tow hitch at £350. It might be easier to get rid of the caravan and stay in cottages when other annual caravan costs are taken into account!

Thanks for any comments

Towbar, I'm sure I read somewhere the NX has towing restrictions depending on model

It was something to do with the draw the torque (kilo-newtons) it can't maintain the pull that sort of thing?

Sorry I can't tell you more it was a while back

Heanorboy · February 21, 2018

Hi

I also turned down all the extra insurances but did take out a Service agreement.

Tow Bar. I spent weeks trying to find a non Lexus Towbar from a Manufacturer that I had heard of and think I just about phoned every one direct. Mine was only 6 months old when bought having been Lexus Exeters own car, in the end I bit the bullet and had the Lexus one fitted, one reason being that as I was having problems finding a BS or CE standard one how would this effect the Lexus warranty esp with regard to electrics. Towing limit on the Hybrid is 1500kg but for me it is noseweight of only 60kg is a slight problem and very low for this type of vehicle. No towed the caravan very much (also have Motorhome used more) but apart from noseweight requiring taking gas bottles out of front it pulled the van well

David

paulrnx · February 21, 2018

On 2/19/2018 at 8:32 PM, keywest said:

I bit the bullet today so it's bye bye 2007 RX400h SR and hello 2015 NX300h Luxury.

Now a few questions:

1. I was offered GAP insurance at £399 for three years cover. I know the principle but it would be interesting forum views on whether it is worthwhile and good value.

2. Also offered Minor Body Damage insurance at £399 for three years coverage. Views on this please although it did sound like it would offer better value.

3. Lexus are offering two years extra warranty (I am getting one year as part of deal) for £795. Views on this please especially value for money

4. Finally towbars. Has anyone got a towbar from anyone other than Lexus? I have tried two fitters and they say there is no towbar for the NX. Offered to have one fitted but only offer detachable swannecks at nearly £900. I need a flangeball or it's a new tow hitch at £350. It might be easier to get rid of the caravan and stay in cottages when other annual caravan costs are taken into account!

Thanks for any comments

I never take out GAP insurance and reckon I've saved a fortune over the years by not doing so.

I have the £399 Smart Cover. Used it twice, perfect repairs both times and great service. Worthwhile in my opinion. I'm sure I'll need to use it again too before it runs out.

I took out the extra two years warranty for £795. Peace of mind decision for me. Whether it's worth it is another matter. Lexus cars are reliable and I've had no warranty repairs done since I bought mine 13 months ago. Or at least I can't remember that I have!

Can't answer re a towbar for an NX. Had two caravans in the past and always used Witter towbars except for a BMW X5 which had a manufacturer's removable towbar fitted. I'd always go with a quality make. I'd be interested to know how yours tows if you do get one. How heavy is the van you'd be towing? Been thinking about venturing back into caravanning and was wondering how an NX would tow. I think Practical Caravan have tested one as part of their annual towing tests and it did ok but they did criticise the lack of torque. Hope you get one sorted Clive.

rich1068 · February 21, 2018

1 hour ago, paulrnx said:

I never take out GAP insurance and reckon I've saved a fortune over the years by not doing so.

You haven't really saved though have you? You just haven't spent money on it.

Personally I think if you're acquiring a vehicle on any sort of finance then it's worth seriously considering. All the weird and wonderful things we enthusiasts are prepared to put our hand in our pocket for and we shy away from spending £150 over 3 years on GAP.

rayaans · February 21, 2018

6 minutes ago, rich1068 said:

You haven't really saved though have you? You just haven't spent money on it.

Personally I think if you're acquiring a vehicle on any sort of finance then it's worth seriously considering. All the weird and wonderful things we enthusiasts are prepared to put our hand in our pocket for and we shy away from spending £150 over 3 years on GAP.

Everything you haven't paid for is still saved though....

Its about £300 from ALA for GAP insurance of around £25000 back to invoice.

Eggie · February 21, 2018

Mine was £240 for 4yrs cover to value £37500 with gapinsurance.co.uk

kenson · February 21, 2018

Hi all, new to this forum. changed from toyota to a lexus nx 300h last month.

To answer question 4, i asked about a towbar at lexus dealer and was told it would be about £1000 fitted. I then tried online and found them on eBay, i then contacted a local independent towbar specalist who was able to supply and fit for £325. He used a bypass relay for the electrics. The towbar was a polish brand and is a fixed swan neck.